An international group of students united last week to create a temporary public art installation that explored crossing borders and identity.

On Friday, art students at The University of Texas at El Paso and visiting artists from the Middle East finished two days of workshops with a public art installation at the Paso del Norte Bridge's pedestrian path. The installation sought to show how the objects people carry across the border become a part of their identity.

"There are so many relevant things happening in the world where our artists have their own stories of migration," said Imogen Ware, the managing director at the Crossway Foundation, which helped bring the visiting artists to the Borderland.

Friday's installation closed off the visiting artists' trip to West Texas, including a stop in art-loving Marfa. They came to UTEP via the Crossway Foundation, a London-based arts and education charity, and worked with the Rubin Center at the university. After leaving El Paso, they were scheduled to head to New Mexico to visit different art hot spots, including Walter De Maria's "The Lightning Field"in Quemado.

"We recognize that there’s a significant generation of '60s minimalist artists who were really interested in the landscape of the Southwest and the art they were creating. That’s what started our interest," Ware said.

Ten artists from different countries in the Middle East, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, visited the Borderland as part of their "Journey to the USA" trip. While in El Paso, the artists collaborated with 13 upper-level UTEP students on different projects and workshops. They also worked with a local architecture agency on Friday's installation.

On the installation — a long, white tabletop propped up by El Paso BCycle bikes — artists placed the items they deemed essential for crossing borders, like the U.S-Mexico border they were standing in front of or the ones they encounter at home.

Ahaad Alamoudi, from Saudi Arabia, brought dried leaves, a "vote for Ahaad for president" T-shirt and photos of her loved ones to the installation.

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UTEP students and visiting artists from the Middle East created a temporary public art installation Friday at the Paso del Norte Bridge.(Photo: Sara Sanchez/El Paso Times)

"I was running for presidency at my university, and I thought bringing this shirt would give it a different context, and I like the idea of playing around with that," Alamoudi said.

Majid Angawi, also from Saudi Arabia, brought three items: a scarf, a notebook and a stick from the Sierra Nevada mountain range. He said he needed the items for physical and mental reasons.

"I had this notebook when I was in the Sierra Nevada, and it was my first time seeing the snow," Angawi said. "I was writing and got so emotional that I ripped the pages out and left them there."

Part of Friday's installation included artists trying to interact with the people crossing into Mexico. Some stopped for a few moments, while others barely glanced as they bustled by, caught up in a fast-paced afternoon.

Ersela Kripa, an architect at El Paso-based Agency Architecture, said the goal of the installation was to show how objects can become part of identities.

"These people that cross the border every day, they pack these objects, and we thought that it probably becomes part of their identity," Kripa said. "If the bag is scanned, it creates a type of image in the Border Patrol’s eyes, and it becomes their identity."

Some of the visiting artists said they saw similarities between El Paso and their homes. Others said that El Paso felt very different.